Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... (20 page)

T
ia woke up
with her back sore and her muscles aching. She groaned and tried to roll over.

“Easy. We’re almost home.”

She reached up with both hands and rubbed her face. Memories of Dr. Maddy, Jeremy and the seriously bad morning filled her brain. “That’s nice.” Whose home?

She knew she didn’t have one. She’d been staying with Simone. Now she had nowhere. Before leaving Land’s Edge, she’d given away all her stuff but the few items she’d carry with her. She hadn’t owned much. Possessions didn’t mean anything to her. And given that she’d lived a nomadic street life, she’d learned to live light and stay that way. So far nothing had changed.

Except now these bastards had gone after an innocent boy.

That was enough. First Simone and now Jeremy.

Opening her eyes, she stared at the roof of the truck.

Her body had that “drained” feeling after a horrific emotional shock, only worse. Why? She remembered getting Jeremy out of the restaurant and finding her energy evaporating quickly. She’d barely made it another couple of steps. She vaguely remembered Stefan grabbing for her and Dean taking Jeremy. Now she wondered how she was supposed to stay safe if she kept passing out.

She’d end up in the hospital and then in a psych ward. Then back on the streets, without family or medical insurance. And in tougher shape.

Not the future she’d envisioned for herself.

The truck came to a gentle stop. Dean turned off the engine. She wondered if he had pulled off to the side of the road and was ready to ask her to leave.

Leave the truck. Leave his life. Leave his son well the hell alone.

She wouldn’t blame him.

Shoving the regrets deep inside, she sat up then grabbed her head for the dizziness. With a stifled moan, she slid to the side of the truck and the open door.

Dean waited for her. He helped her down and steadied her while she gained her feet.

They were at his house.

His mother was there, bawling buckets over having Jeremy safe in her arms. Tia could relate. She felt like crying herself. Dean held her close for a moment. She wished she knew what was wrong. She was weepy, tired, feeling off. And that so wasn’t her.

She’d always had a clear plan, even if that only meant hiding and staying hidden.

She had no idea what to do now. Surely that was why she was feeling like this.

“Take it easy, you were out cold for at least fifteen minutes.”

She nodded. “Seems like I’m doing a lot of that lately.”

“Not a problem,” he said easily with a gentle smile. “You can stay here as long as you want until you feel better.”

Surprised, she stared up at him. “What? I figured you were going to ask me to leave now.”

“You saved my son. Why would I be so callous as to ask you to leave now?” Anger filtered into his voice. “That’s a hell of a way to say thanks.”

“I’m responsible for that man coming after him in the first place,” she said in astonishment. “I did what I could to fix the scenario, but no one in his right mind is going to want me to stay around.”

His jaw clicked closed and a tick played out on his cheekbone. “I don’t desert those in need, and I never forget something like someone saving my son’s life.”

“Then you need glasses because you aren’t seeing the cause of the problem in the first place,” she muttered.

“I know exactly who is responsible and it isn’t you,” he snapped. “That’s enough of that. We’ll hunt this asshole down together so both of us can get our lives back.”

She stared up at him, relief coursing through her. Did he mean it? She searched those dark unfathomable eyes wondering if he was too good to be true. She hadn’t met very many men she’d trust and none that would have helped her like this. She hadn’t known they really existed.

And did she dare trust him now that he was in front of her? Maybe.

Then he did something that blew her away.

He lowered his head and kissed her.

As he raised his head, she stared at him in shock. “Why did you do that?” she whispered.

“Because it seemed like the right thing to do,” he answered with a shrug, a lost look to his face as if he truly didn’t know what impulse had driven him.

She smiled. “It was nice.”

Light flared in his gaze and he lowered his head again. She leaned into the warmth of his arms. The safety, the caring, the novelty – at least for just a moment.

Warmth spread through her body, heating the chilly spots inside. Sad to think there were more cold spots than anything else. But her life had been a mess. Lonely and alone for so long, she’d forgotten the joy of being held. The joy of belonging to someone. To know she was loved and cared for.

And Dean made her want it all over again.

She pulled back.

“Daddy, did you kiss her owie better?”

Dean grinned. “I did. She’s feeling much better.”

He turned, slung an arm over her shoulders and tugged her toward the house. For some reason – most likely the revelation of what was being dangled in front of her with the knowledge she couldn’t have it – she slowed her feet. She had no business being here. Putting his family in danger. The best thing she could do was run. She knew how to do that. She’d been doing it for a long time.

His hand firm on her shoulder, tugged her forward. “No more running. You need a place to regroup. Create an action plan. Let the cops do their thing. You have a place here. A safe place.”

“No, it’s not safe,” she muttered. “He will find you here.”

“Good. Let him. We’ll be ready.”

There was something in his voice that had her looking at him intently. “Are you thinking to set a trap?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It did. Just not a great one. She’d always found running worked best.

*

She looked ready
to bolt. He just had to coax her inside. Let her relax a little. Convince her to trust him. Not an easy thing to do given that his son had been kidnapped and she’d been knocked out a time or two.

But they were all safe for the moment, and that gave him a second chance. To secure his family. To help her. To get the asshole that endangered them all.

Because he’d had enough of running. He was all about going on the attack and taking care of business before business took care of him.

But he had to find the bastard first.

An unmarked police car pulled up as he walked to the front of his house. He pushed Tia forward. “Go and have a cup of tea, a bite to eat. You need to rest.”

He waited until she climbed up the stairs and entered. Then he turned and walked to where his partner waited, leaning against the car. “Jones, what have you got?”

“No fingerprint match so far. We have him on video. He’s been identified as Torrence Vladrong. He was a student with Wilhelm’s program.”

“So he was there with Tia?” Dean frowned. “Then why go after her?”

“Is he going after her?”

“I don’t know what else he’d want.” Dean stared at Jones. “Sorry, not sure what I’m saying. It’s been a long morning. All I know is the asshole could have hurt my son. He could have taken him and run. He didn’t. Why?”

“He didn’t want the boy. He didn’t want to hurt him,” Jones said.

“I think it was a message. That he could take what he wanted when he wanted.”

“Why? What does he want?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

The two men leaned against the car, both deep in thought.

“Any news on Simone?” Dean asked.

“No. And Brennan was killed by a single gunshot to the heart,” Jones said. “No sign of a fight. No defensive wounds.”

“And no gun left behind?”

“Not that we’ve found yet.”

“So Simone has either been taken or is in the wind.” Dean hoped for the latter.

“We’re searching for her but no leads yet.”

Dean frowned. “Two vehicles were available in the garage, and yet she didn’t take either.”

“No. So she either couldn’t or realized they’d be tracked and went under the grid.”

“Where? And why? Is she part of this or playing her own game?”

“Or did she take an opportunity to get out of a bad situation and disappear,” Jones said.

“We aren’t going to know that until we find her.”

“If we find her.”

“And Vladrong.” Dean frowned more fiercely. “What are we doing to find him?”

“Everything we can. We have his picture, his name, it’s out everywhere. But until we get a lead then we’re all waiting for the status quo to change.”

“Why would he have allowed us to identify him? To see his face?”

“Because he doesn’t care?” Jones suggested. “He has a place to hide. A way to get underground? He was sent by someone else? He doesn’t understand the danger?” Jones threw up his hands. “I don’t know. I’m just throwing out ideas.”

“Any and all of them could work.” Dean hated the unknown. The questions without answers. The too many pathways and no direction. When they caught their man, they could usually figure out the answers but often it wasn’t that easy. Often there wasn’t an answer. Often it was backbreaking work to fill in the answers as to what had really happened and why.

Life didn’t always cross the Ts and dot the Is. But they had to figure out why Tia was so important to this man – or else they’d figure out this man’s motives. Without that, there was no way to know what drove him. Or predict what he’d do next.

Or when he made a mistake.

And Dean needed him to make a mistake.

“How are you feeling these days?”

Dean knew what he was asking. “Much better. I should be back to work soon.”

Jones straightened, a big grin on his face. “Awesome.” He high-fived Dean. “That’s freakin’ awesome. I’ve been waiting for you to get back to the job for over a month now. Sucks being without you.”

Dean laughed. “Glad to hear that. I still have to get the clearance from the doctor, but I feel much better these days and all the weird symptoms are gone.”

“Damn, that’s good.” Jones rubbed his hands. “So what, a day or two? A week? I need something to look forward to.”

“As soon as we find this asshole that kidnapped my boy.” He shook his head. “I can’t leave him now.”

“Nope, but you have more resources to hunt him down from the inside.”

“That’s why I have you,” Dean said. “And you can do that while I protect my family.”

Jones motioned to the doorway of Dean’s house. “Stefan is here? How the hell did you manage that?”

“Yeah, he’s been helping.” Dean looked toward his house. Stefan stood in the doorway searching the street and looking at the house. “What is he looking for?”

“I was going to ask you that question,” Jones said. “I’ve got to go back to the office. There’s a hell of a lot of paperwork to take care of now. I’ll be back to get your statement. If you could write it down in the meantime that would be huge. You know how this works. You never know what you know until we get all the information together.”

Dean nodded. “Right. I’ll get the others to write down everything they saw too.”

Jones nodded and headed around to the driver’s side of his vehicle. “We’re on this. Keep your family safe.”

Dean nodded as his buddy drove away. “That was the plan from the beginning,” he said softly to himself, “but apparently I didn’t do so good.”

“You did fine,” Stefan said from behind him.

Dean spun around.

“I’m heading home. I need some rest. I’ve put up a guard around the house. As long as you are all inside, you should be safe from this guy. But that protection can’t ever be a hundred percent as more and more abilities keep coming up and we never know what people can do.”

“Got it.” Dean looked to the house. “They’re all inside?”

“All three of them, yes. You might want to consider sending your mother and son away for a week or two.”

“If they’d go.”

“They’d go. It’s safer out there than it is here right now. Your mother has also been through a huge shock. She needs time to get over this. Your son has no idea how close he’s come. Keep it that way. He needs normal for a long time.”

“Right.” How the hell was he supposed to give his son normal in a world gone crazy? He had to protect him. That meant get him out of here. “I’ll send my mother and son back East. She can go visit her old friends and extended family.”

“That would be good. And book the tickets under someone else’s name, right?”

“Christ,” Dean said, wiping the sweat off his face. “I need to catch this asshole fast.” Remembering his conversation with Jones, he looked over at Stefan. “Any idea why he wants Tia?”

Stefan shook his head. “Not yet. I’m not even sure he’s working alone.”

“I’m wondering if he is a dupe in all this. Sent to retrieve her any way possible.”

Stefan stared at him, his eyes defocusing. “Quite possibly. But then why didn’t he? He just left. Without any of us. So more of a message? A warning? And with Wilhelm dead – you said he is, right? – then who is pulling his strings?

“That’s the question, isn’t it? And more importantly, why? What could they possibly want with her that they haven’t already gotten?”